back to front
by wolves'n'motorbikes
Summary: this is put on hold for the moment. Unfortunately, and sorry for anyone who actualyl liked it, I deleted the story adn i can't find the guide for ff7 to rewtrie it. SORRY!
1. Chapter 1

**Roles Reversed**

**(Ghost in the mirror Clorith challenge 7)**

**By Wolves'n'motorbikes**

Chapter 1 Through The Roof 

She ran lithely across the bridge, trying to duck the shots from the Air Buster. The other members of her team, Tifa and Barrett, were ahead of her, already behind the only safe part of the bridge, calling for her to move faster. She tripped on a loose cable and went flying. She rolled over, ignoring her nosebleed, and threw her staff up, casting a Bolt spell at it. It made the Air Buster stop for a moment, and then the bridge collapsed.

All she knew was the feel of the air rushing past her as she fell. Falling. Faster.

CRASH.

Blackness.

Silence.

Then a voice. A man's voice, sounding concerned, gently whispering to her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Hey! Are you even alive?"

She screwed her eyes up and then opened them. The light rushed her to shield her eyes and then the man talking to her came into vague focus. Ridiculously spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes full of concern. He had fair skin, and his muscled chest was bare, thrown into the light, his skin pale against his dark trousers. His shirt seemed to be tucked into the back of his trousers and there was an enormous sword at his side. He wasn't her type, but he was handsome.

"I'm fine. Don't look at me like that," she growled, rolling onto her side to fight unsteadily to her feet.

"I'm just concerned. You crash through the roof of my church like nobody's business and then lie unconscious in my flowers for god-knows how long. Not many people do that."

She grunted her response. "Who are you?" _Not that I care._

"My name's Cloud Strife. What's yours?"

"Aerith. Aerith Gainsborough."

Reluctantly, she grasped the hand that he held out for her and he pulled her to her feet. As soon as she could, she let go. Physical contact wasn't something she aspired to. The look this 'Cloud' was fixing her with aggravated her. He was looking at her in concern, and worry, and as if he'd never seen another woman before.

"What?" she growled.

"You've got really beautiful eyes," he mused.

She rolled the emerald orbs she had for eyes and turned to walk off, but she started to collapse. Before her knees could hit the floor though, Cloud's arms were around her waist, pulling her upright. There was a simple bedroll beside a fallen pillar, which was where he lay her. Instructing her to sleep, he cast a furtive look at the door, before turning back to the flowers. In the midst of busying himself by fixing the flowers Aerith had landed on, his head shot to the door and he literally leapt to his feet, the heavy soles of his boots smashing into the floor, but not breaking it. His sword was in his hand before Aerith had even blinked.

"For god's sake, not again," he sighed as a man with bright red hair in a suit walked through the door, two SOLDIERs flanking him.

Aerith fought to her feet and picked up what she assumed was her staff. The top had snapped off, but she could not see it anywhere. So all she was armed with was a stick.

"Now, Strife. Are you going to come with us willingly this time, or will we have to force you?" asked the red-head.

"For god's sake Reno," sighed Cloud. "You know every time you come here with your silly friends that they won't make it out alive and I won't be in your clutches. Just leave."

He turned away and went to kneel, but something was already hurtling towards him at tremendous speed. Aerith threw her stick. It deflected the bullet. But now she had no weapon. Cloud's eyes smiled at her as he placed his sword down, and returned to his flowers. Aerith watched as the two SOLDIERs approached him, hands outstretched to clasp his bare shoulders.

"Don't think about it," he whispered.

"Take the girl!" called the red-head then.

Instead of going to Cloud, the two SOLDIERs turned and headed towards Aerith. She didn't know what to do. She was not armed and too weak to fight.

"Get to the rafters. I can help from there," whispered Cloud. "Use the pillar."

Aerith glanced to her side, took note of the pillar by the bedroll, nodded once in thanks, and began to stumble over to it, her boots loud in the silence. She hoisted herself onto the pillar and began to head up it as quick as she could. In the silence that filled the church, she could hear the SOLDIERs pursuing her. They were no match for her, weakened or not. She could easily escape, and then-

She tripped on the edge of her dress. That small stumble, merely a double-step, cost her valuable seconds, and she soon lost ground to the SOLDIERs. They were right behind her now. Luckily, she reached the rafters before they could get to her. She got as far as she could without tipping all the barrels off and then turned to face them. She was not armed. She wasn't that strong, though she'd die than admit it.

"Aerith!" Cloud's voice bellowed then, realising her predicament. She ignored him, though her eyes glanced down.

Cloud searched frantically for the head of her staff. Where was it? He'd seen it when she landed, a small u-shape of iron. Where was it?

"Yes!" he exclaimed quietly, discovering the metal behind a pew. He grabbed it and the bullet-wounded stick, and ran to where he was stood underneath her. "Aerith! Here!" And he threw them upwards.

Aerith's hands clasped them. Though they weren't much good, she could still use them to cast some magic. It would have to do till she obtained the gil Barrett promised her. Then she'd get out of Midgar and go back to Kalm. She wove the spell and cast it.

The two SOLDIERs froze on the spot, wavered and then fell off the rafters onto the ground. "Poor guys," she muttered. "They just need to be loved." She laughed bitterly, despite her usual pretence of not ever smiling.

Cloud looked at the two SOLDIERs at his feet, then up at Aerith. She'd begun to make her way back to the pillar when it gave way, crashing to the floor.

"Oh for gods sake," Cloud hissed. "Why did you have to make my church fall apart?" He wasn't talking to Aerith, she knew that much. Just who was he talking to? She doubted it was that red-head stood by the door. Then he moved to stand a little way off directly beneath her. "Jump," he said simply.

"Do you think I'm insane?" she replied.

"You would rather break both your legs on the floor? Okay," said Cloud, stepping out from underneath her. She did not move. He returned to where he had been stood. "Don't worry. I will catch you."

Aerith took a deep breath, clutched the shards of her staff and then stepped off the rafters. Before she'd realised it, Cloud's arms were around her and she was pinned to the floor by one of his knees across her own.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, trying to force him off.

"Stop moving. Reno's about to go back to his helicopter to go get you from the roof."

"How do you know?" she asked him then.

Cloud merely tapped his brow in reply. She huffed, but didn't say anything else. True to his word, the red-head turned and walked out, bellowing orders about his helicopter being brought to him. Cloud removed himself from her as soon as they heard the helicopter. He ignored her after giving her a wistful look and moved to retrieve his sword.

"Just who are you?" asked Aerith, as Cloud swung the ridiculously sized blade around, before placing it down gently, slipping his turtle-necked loose black-purple tank top over his head, followed by a spiky metal shoulder-plate and then a belt-like thing with two enormous clips on it.

Aerith realised her look must have been enquiring and confused, for Cloud then said, "it's the scabbard for my sword."

Aerith merely gave him a look that clearly said she didn't care. But she watched in interest as Cloud swung the sword over his shoulder and fastened it to the clips on his back. He ignored her previous question however and went to leave. Aerith heard something thud on the floor, but didn't realise it was her till she saw Cloud's feet by her head.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

**Sector 5 slums and Cloud's home**

Aerith awoke to find herself in a warm, thickly quilted bed. There was the distinct air of a potion and cure materia in the air around her.

Funny. I don't remember going to bed, or drinking a potion and using cure…OH…MY…GOOD…GOD!

The thought occurred to her that after she had passed out, Cloud must have carried her somewhere, put her in this bed. Almost as if that thought had awoken it, a sharp pain rippled across her abdomen, causing her to curl up and clench her jaws to prevent herself screaming.

When the pain had subsided, she straightened out and looked around. The room was sparsely decorated. What was decorated had flowers over the walls, specially dried so they retained their smell and colour. There was a desk in the corner, laden with books. Sat in the chair, his blond head slumped on the surface, was Cloud, his deep breathing telling her he was asleep.

She slipped out of bed and found herself clad in a clean version of her dress. No…Wait… It was her dress, it was just clean. As was she. She was also bare foot, so her sparse SOLDIER training did not make her feet sound as they hit the floorboards beside the bed. She found her staff by the door, mended perfectly, looking as though it had never broken. She picked it up and turned to look at Cloud's sleeping form, before exiting the room and looking around.

It was definitely a family house. She could tell by the tell-tale wear in the floor and the happy air about the place. Cloud must have grown up here. At the smell of food, she guessed his family did as well.

_I bet his wife is so nice and pretty and he's got some snot-nosed kid who's always running round laughing,_ she thought viciously as she padded silently downstairs, preparing a Bolt spell.

What met her sight then shocked her. It was an older woman, gray streaks in her hair, obviously in her late forties, maybe younger because of the lifespan in the slums. She was stood in front of a stove, cooking something away, humming to herself merrily. Thought Aerith's steps were silent, the woman looked around, causing Aerith to jump slightly.

'Well, hello, Miss Aerith. Cloud said you'd probably wake up some time today.'

"You're not his… You're his…"

"You thought he'd be married to a model and have a snot-nosed child running around laughing, yes? I am his mother. And I would be thankful if you left, without him knowing."

Aerith opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind. She barely knew the woman, so she couldn't pick a fight. From the stern, yet motherly look on her face, Aerith suspected Cloud's mother was a firm but fair woman who didn't want her son mixed up with Aerith's sorts.

"I'd be lying if I said Cloud's never had a girlfriend before," his mother said then, turning back to the stove. "He only ever dated one girl, but she left to join some squad in SOLDIER, and never came back. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm 22," replied Aerith proudly, but unsure of what to expect of Cloud's mother to say. "What's your name? It doesn't seem right to call you Cloud's mother."

"My name's Elmyra, Miss Aerith. You're a year older than my son, you know."

"Can you not call me 'Miss'? It doesn't seem right around me. I was in SOLDIER," she added then. "I might have known Cloud's girlfriend. They were all women in my squad."

"Her name was Claire. I think she was 1st class by the time she finished training."

Aerith scoffed suddenly. "That is ridiculous. Claire was one of my best friends and I was the only other person I knew to be 1st class."

"Mom I can't find Aerith," murmured a voice from the stairs.

Both women turned to look at Cloud. His hair was flat at the front from where he'd been resting on the table, and Aerith won against the smile fighting to her lips at the sight of Cloud. In his own home, he wasn't a mean macho guy, he was just a kid. He blinked at the sight of Aerith.

"Oh, you're there," he said, and turned round to go back upstairs.

Elmyra's foot suddenly stabbed into Aerith's calf. She scowled at the older woman and then nodded once. As soon as Cloud had disappeared through the landing, Aerith turned to the woman.

"All right, you don't have to kick me. I know when to go. It's hard to walk out the door without him knowing when he's stood right there," she hissed, going to the door beside the stove.

As she opened it, a cold breeze swept past her feet and she realised that she still had retrieved her boots. A quick glance revealed that they were beside the door. She stepped into them and looked at Elmyra. She had her back to Aerith and was busying herself with the pot on the stove. It smelt of soup. _Probably for that prick, Cloud,_ she thought before stepping lightly into the breeze and shutting the door silently.

At least Cloud isn't going to be tagging along behind me. I need to get back to Tifa's place. But…where am I? I've never seen this part of the slums before.

She walked out of the houses garden, taking care to search among the flowers in the garden as she did. It yielded an ether and a piece of cover materia. Aerith sniffed, stashed the ether away and equipped the materia to her bangle. She then continued on her way.

She found herself in the sector 5 slums. She remembered looking at the map when she was in the train with Jessie. The exit to the sector 6 slums was…to the right of Cloud's house. She went to go that way, but found to burly men blocking the exit. She wrinkled her nose slightly and then turned to the left and continued on her way again. She found herself in another sector of the slums, and knew that she would not be attacked by any creature shape or form, and so stashed her staff into the ring of metal on the back of her cropped cerise jacket. Usually hidden by her hair, Aerith didn't have any trouble pulling her staff out if she required it.

Looking around, she realised that there were little in the way of houses and shops, but there were an item shop and some shops for other items, things Aerith didn't currently have enough money for. She entered the item shop, and found herself overwhelmed by the amount of items in there. The shop looked small, but there were so many things, at such low price, Aerith stocked up on potions, Phoenix Downs and a couple of ethers to add to the one she'd retrieved from Cloud's garden. Thanking the man at the counter under her breath, she turned and left the items.

She talked to several people before entering another building. There was a little boy lying on his bed, asleep. Aerith didn't realise this till she spoke to him. He mumbled something about a secret drawer in his dresser. Intrigued, Aerith headed to the aforementioned article of furniture and opened it. Revealing the hidden drawer, she saw five gil. She reached out for it, but casting a look at the little boy, shut the drawer instead. Before leaving the boys room, a flyer on the wall caught her eye. 'Turtle's Paradise flyer 1.' She looked at the boy, then pulled the flyer off the wall and stashed away with her items.

She left the building and looked around. There was nowhere else to go. She thought of heading back to Cloud's house to see if Elmyra had a map, then shook herself. _Better not. That woman doesn't like me._ Instead, she went to see if the men from the sector 6 exit had moved. They had. She left the Sector 5 slums and entered Sector 6. She could sense the monsters in this area, so drew her staff.

"Hey!" a voice called. It was familiar.

Wood clashed with steel as she whipped round to meet Cloud's electric blue eyes with narrowed emerald.

A/N: I know this is a bit back to front, as your supposed to go to Aerith's house after visiting the slums, but I'd already got her passing out in the church, so I thought oh, well, I'll make it back to front. Still, it sounds okay, yeah? Review and I'll add more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Cross-dressed**

"Hey, that's Tifa!" exclaimed Aerith suddenly, twisting her staff.

"What?" asked Cloud, peering over Aerith's shoulder to get a look at the chocobo-drawn cart ride past.

On it was a young woman with long black hair and burgundy eyes. Her hair was plaited tightly down her back and she was wearing tight party clothes to make her breasts appear bigger, though she looked slightly ridiculous. She looked to the side at Aerith at the call of her name and a flash of recognition danced across her eyes. Then she vanished into Wall Market. Cloud turned to Aerith.

"C'mon. I want to know where's she's gone."

"No, Cloud. You stay here."

"Whatever. I've followed you once, I'll do it again. And anyway, if she's dressed up as a slut, you might need my help."

Aerith rolled her eyes and nodded once. "Fine. If you get hurt, it's your own fault."

"Oh, come off it. I'm holding a sword that's about 5 stone in solid steel. I can hold my own."

"If I cared, I'd pay attention," replied Aerith, turning to walk off.

Cloud shot after her, swinging his sword over his shoulder, but not holstering it. After a few minutes, they reached Wall Market. It was a garish place filled with neon signs and party animals. Looking around, they decided to head to the Honey Bee Inn, where the chocobo-cart was. There was few men there, and most had their attentions drawn to Aerith as soon as they walked into the area. Cloud smiled with closed eyes at her, then turned to the man stood next to the bouncer.

"Do you know a woman called Tifa?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course I do. She's the newest member of staff at the old Don's mansion. She's being interviewed by him now."

"Don…?" Cloud prompted.

"Don Corneo. Don't tell me you don't know who he is?"

"No, I know him. I was just making sure. Thank you," replied Cloud, turning to go back to Aerith.

"Hey dirt bag, get off me! I said, get off! Oh, that's it! BOLT!" bellowed Aerith's voice suddenly and Cloud saw a flash of lightning. He dashed over to where Aerith was and saw her surrounded by several charred men, all rather shocked.

Cloud laughed. "Come on. I know where Tifa is."

"Let's go."

As they walked to Don Corneo's mansion, Cloud surveyed Aerith out the corner of his eye. Her jaw was so firmly set, her mouth down turned in a frown, that Cloud wondered how she had any teeth left. He hadn't once seen her do anything other frown. Her emerald eyes glistened and were narrowed against the glow of the neon lights. The glow of Mako. He recognised it instantly. That was the same glow Claire had when he had dated her. She had thick chestnut hair that reached her waist in a plait held by pink ribbon. Her fringe was thick and spiked, falling into her eyes and either side of her face, framing it beautifully .Her light pink dress clung to her body at the waist and breasts and was only buttoned to just above her knees and then it flayed out about her ankles. She wore scuffed brown boots on her feet, but though old, looked as sturdy as his own. The top of her dress was low-cut, covered by a cerise jacket trimmed with metal to add a bit of protection to it. Round her throat was a piece of black lace, tied loosely into a bow to add contrast against her pale skin. The staff in her hands glowed with raw power, but she merely channelled it, didn't use it. Her eyes flickered to meet his, and Cloud looked away, a faint blush on his cheeks at being caught looking at her.

Aerith had caught Cloud looking at her, and admitted she didn't know why he was blushing. His spiky blond hair seemed ridiculously spiky and an almost luminous blond. His electric blue eyes were focused ahead of him, reflective pools of clear electrified water. His skin was so pale, and though he looked young, Aerith knew that as Elmyra had said that he was a year younger than her, he had not shaved once, nor had he ever needed to. His nose was so straight it looked someone had drawn its line with a ruler. Like her, his mouth was set in a frown, his eyebrows drawn together slightly. He wore a dark purple – almost black – turtle necked tank top, thickly ribbed and loose under his arms. On one shoulder he wore a thick spherical metal shoulder pad, three short flat-ended spikes on it. Attached to that was a large belt round his waist, almost like the straps to dungarees, two straps going over his shoulder, a thicker piece of leather under his shoulder plate to comfort his shoulder. He wore loose trousers, the same color as his top, twisted loosely to tuck into his boots, the same dark brown and of a similar style to what she had seen in SOLDIER. All in all, he looked like he belonged there, not in a flower church that was disintegrating around him. At least, that's what his muscles told her. It looked like he belonged there. She caught herself as she realised she was looking admirably at him.

Looking ahead, she realised that they had reached Don Corneo's mansion.

"Come on, let's see whether we can get in." There was something about Cloud's tone that made her think about what problems they could face.

Outside, was a bouncer. A large, burly man who was taller than Barrett, who seemed enormous compared to Aerith, who was a pitiful 5'3" was stood at the door, looking down at the pair of them in a disgusted way. When Aerith stepped level with Cloud, he moved aside to let her through, holding a hand in front of Cloud to prevent passage.

"What?" asked Aerith, astounded.

"No men." The guard's tone was final.

Cloud pouted childishly at the man then nodded to Aerith and turned to leave. Aerith appeared at his side moments later.

"Why didn't you go ahead?" he asked. "She's your friend."

"Because, Cloud, I couldn't get in anyway. You see, the Don only like fancily dressed women. That's why Tifa was dressed up. We'll have to dress up if we want to get in."

"I'm not dressing up as a woman."

"It's the only way."

Cloud sighed, accepting defeat. "Fine. Where on Planet are we going to find a dress that will pass me off as a woman though?"

Almost as if the Planet wished to spite him, they happened to be stood outside a dress shop. Aerith waved her hand at the door, gesturing for Cloud to enter. A slight scowl crossed his face and then he shook a stray lock of hair out his eye and entered the shop. Heading over to the counter, Aerith took over negotiations, realising Cloud probably couldn't handle conversations about dresses well.

"Hey," she said loudly, when the shop assistant ignored her.

He still ignored her so she slammed her fist down on the surface of the counter, sending a split running across it faintly, as if it were merely a piece of hair lying there. The sound however, ricocheted across the room, and the assistant span round, looking terrified into the angrily bubbling depths of Aerith's emerald eyes.

"Yes?" he whispered.

"I need you to make a dress." Her tone was flat.

"Would you like to give me your measurements and I'll go get my father. He's in the tavern."

"Not for me. For him," she replied, jerking a thumb over her shoulder at Cloud, who had his back to the two.

The assistant's eyes widened. "Why?"

"You don't want to know. The tavern, you said?" At the assistant's nod, she turned to Cloud. "Come on, chocobo, let's get your dress."

Cloud hissed at the name. "Don't call me that, please. Where do we have to go anyway?"

"The tavern. That assistant's an idiot."

So they headed to the tavern. After a moment's searching, they found the dressmaker, his head slumped on the bar, a half-drunk beer bottle in his hand. Aerith gestured once again for Cloud to stay where he was and threw herself angrily into the seat beside the drunken man.

"Hey, jerkface!" she bellowed down his ear.

The dressmaker bolted upright from his drunken stupor and looked around, before blotchy eyes settled on the pink-clad girl beside him.

"I'm not making dresses," he groaned, but before he could lay his head down again, Aerith's fingers had wound into his head.

"Not for me. For him." She jerked her head at Cloud.

The dressmaker's eyes widened. "I've never made a dress for his kind before."

Cloud shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "Will you do it?" he asked.

"Sure. Go back to my shop and I'll have it done."

He shuffled off out the tavern, leaving Cloud and Aerith to look at each other, the former in shock at the violence displayed, the latter in contempt.

"Are you going to move or not?" Aerith asked, walking past him.

Cloud's feet moved before he could stop them. He was back at the shop before he knew it. He was listening to Aerith saying he needed a wig. He was winning a wig in a squat competition before he knew it. He was helping a woman in the tavern with a stomach complaint getting perfume for getting her the medicine. He was in the materia shop, receiving a tiara for the vendor. He was back in the Honey Bee inn getting make-up without even realising he was there. He picked up some lingerie without even knowing why he was.

Once back at the dressmaker's shop, he changed into the costume in full, stepping out to idiotic wolf-whistles from the dressmaker. Aerith ran her tongue across her teeth and then turned around. She still had to dress up. She picked out a kinky little red number and entered the changing-room. When she exited, she had let her hair down, and looked more beautiful than before. Cloud had to work his jaw hard not to drop.

And so they headed to Don Corneo's mansion.

A/N: WHOA! That was one long chapter. I didn't think it would be quite that long. Thanks to the dude that reviewed me. This is for you! Review more, and I'll add some more. Poor Cloud, it's like he's glutton for punishment and bad ideas.


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